


Who Were You?

by TaraHarkon



Series: Finding You [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 02:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4003105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraHarkon/pseuds/TaraHarkon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha goes to the museum to see the past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Were You?

Natasha walked up the steps at the front of the Smithsonian and quietly bought a ticket with a smile and a friendly greeting for the part-time summer help running the ticket booth. Once she was inside, she walked unerringly to what Steve called _That_ _Display_. Not to say, of course, that he talked about it much. There were really only two things in here she was looking for, she knew the rest. Natasha grinned at one display talking about Steve’s post-serum measurements. Boy, could she tell them a thing or two about those measurements. The excited voice of a little girl nearby reminded her to wipe the all too knowing grin from her face.  
“Look, Mommy! Look! They added a new mannequin and she’s a _girl_!”  
_Yes…_ thought Natasha, _that’s who I’m here to see…_  
She paused at the pre-serum pictures, almost reaching out to touch them. Had he really been so small? So fragile? But there was the stubborn Steve core that she knew so well. Finally, she turned and came face to face with the Howling Commandoes display, altered since she and Steve had borrowed his old uniform. At Steve’s insistence, they had finally added the last Commando: Peggy Carter. Natasha stood there for a long while, just looking at the photo and old outfit. This was the woman that Steve had loved, and the woman who had loved him. He didn’t talk about her much, not with Natasha. It was probably too weird, too uncomfortable. Particularly given the state of undress of a lot of their conversations lately. Natasha couldn’t help but have questions. _Was she anything like this fiery woman who had founded S.H.I.E.L.D? How would things have turned out if Steve hadn’t gone into the ice? If they had found him?_ She just kept staring, trying to pry secrets from the mannequin. She made a silent promise that she would take the best care of Steve that he would let her and smiled, watching that same excited little girl tugging on her mother’s hand and still pointing at the display while she read the facts.  
“And she really fought alongside Captain America! Just like the Black Widow and the Scarlet Witch do!”  
That was too much for Natasha. Not wanting to risk being recognized, she ducked into the next room and found herself face to face with Bucky Barnes. Not the real Bucky, of course. But the huge display talking about his fatal fall. She chuckled inwardly. _Not so fatal as all that._ He was the other one she had come to see, this man she knew only as the Winter Soldier. This man that Steve was still looking for, still desperately needed to save. From everything Steve had said, they were best friends. But Natasha had only seen the killer. She needed to see the real Bucky, to see the man that her Steve needed to save. She was still standing there staring intently at the pictures of him when she heard footsteps come right up behind her. She started to move out of the way, meaning to let whoever it was look, and found herself looking up into those blue eyes she knew so well.  
“Fancy seeing you here. Decided to become a permanent feature of the display?”  
Steve Rogers laughed quietly and adjusted his baseball cap disguise.  
“Not yet, I haven’t. What brings you here?”  
She gestured up at the picture.  
“You talk about him so much, care about him. I wanted to figure him out.” She smiled a little and let him take her hand in his.“Might make it easier to find him.”  
Natasha didn’t tell him that she’d also come to see who Peggy Carter was. He didn’t need to know about that, and about the questions she had. Not just yet.  
“I’ve looked everywhere he might have gone, Nat.”  
The shadow that fell over him was almost too much. She squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him.  
“We’ll find him. Don’t you go giving up. I didn’t think you were physically capable. Might throw out your hip or something. And _then_ where will I be?”


End file.
